Automatic starter for motor-driven vehicles



Aprifi i 1924-o 1,489,149

P. B. PELTQ AUTOMATIC STARTER FOR MOTOR DRIVEN VEHICLES Filed April 18. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ami 1 1924, 1,489,149

P. B. PELTO AUTOMATIC STARTER FOR MOTOR DRIVEN VEHICLES Filed April 18 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwuentoz Patented Apr. 1, 1924.

insane ITED V TATIE'S f PATENT PETER B. PELTO, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

AUTOEIATIC STABTER'FOB MOTOR-DRIVEN VEHICLES.

Application filed April 18, 1922. Serial No; 554,478.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, PETER B.'Pnuro, a

citizen of the United States of America,- residing atDetroit, in the county of l v a yne and State of lilichigan, have inventcdnew the teeth of the gears and under such rela tions as to insure the prompt disengagement of the starting mechanism from the I motor shaft when the motor has commenced to function; and with this object iniview the invention consists in a construction and combination of parts of which a preferred embodiment is shown inthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view of the starting mechanism in the inoperative or unconnectedposition.

Figure 2 starter in the operative position.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the clutch.

Figure 4: is a detail view in section to show the connection between the starter shaft and the clutch.

Figure 5 is a section on the plane indi cated by the line 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a side View of a clutch sleeve.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken longitudinally of the starter pinion.

Figure 8 is an end View of the same.

The starting motor, usually electrically operated as indicated at 10 and the machine motor is indicated at 1.1, and the mechanism embodying the invention is designed as a means of comnmnicating motion from the starting motor shaft 12 to a gear 13 on the car motor drive shaft under the most favorable conditions and with the minimum of strain upon the parts through the intervention of a pinion 1 1 which is mounted for longitudinal movement on the motor shaft 12 to effect its engagement with and disengagement from the gear 13 on the engine drive shaft.

The means embodying the invention which are provided for this purpose include a clutch having a sleeve 15 revolubly mounted upon the motor shaft 12 and connected thereto by a pin 16 which operates is a similar view showing the in a spiral slot 17 in the sleeve said pin bewing held in place for turning movement-by a key 18 extended longitudinally into a bore 19 of the motor shaft for engagement ten minally with an annular groove 20 in the pin, said hey being threaded. as at 21 for engagement by a lock nut 22 and being threaded in the counterbore to provide for such a relation thereof with the pin 16 as to hold the latter against vibration :while permitting the rotation thereof as its a surface contacts with the walls of the spiral slot 17 in the sleevelfi.

Connection between the pinion 1 1 and the sleeve is effected by means of arms 24 extending longitudinally from the pinion and engaging longitudinal slots 25 in the sleeve,

said arms being provided with terminal lugs 26 for engagement with a spring ring 27 seated in a circumferential groove 28 in the sleeve, so that while through the longitudinal movement of the sleeve on the motor shaft 12- motion may be communicated in either direction to the pinion 1 3i, there is lost motion between the said elements due to the movement of the lugs 25 i in the slots 25,saidmovement being: limited in one direction by vthe inner end of the slot and in the other direction by the stop ring 27.

With the parts in the position indicated in Figure 1 and the object being to move the pinion into mesh with the drive gear 13, a movement of the sleeve on said motor shaft 12 would effect the desired object under ordinary conditions were it not for the fact that the engagement of the ends of the teeth or the failure of the teeth of the pinion to register with the spaces between the teeth of the gear is liable in practice to cause the stripping of the teeth or the injury thereto to such an extent as to destroy their utility, and therefore a cushioning means is interposed between the sleeve and the gear or a yielding 'means of communicating motion from the sleeve to the gear is employed to permit of the advance of the sleeve without forcing the pinion to such an extent as to result in such injury. In the construction illustrated the said cushioning means consists of follower pins 29 carried by the sleeve and having actuating coil springs 30 so that motion is communicated from the sleeve to the gear through these cushioned pins when the sleeve is advanced automatically by the impulse of the starter through the armature shaft and by the action of the pin 16 in the spiral groove of the sleeve. The engagement of the pinion with the gear, in the event that an accurate meshing of the teeth does not occur, results merely in the repression of the pinion against the tension of the springs 30 until the further turning of the pinion which rotates with the sleeve due to the interlocking connection between the same, is effected whereupon tie springs acting through the follower pins quickly advance the pinion into a meshed relation with the gear. When the operation of the starting motor has resulted in the starting of the car motor and the gear 13 then receives its motion from the car motor, the effect of the transmission of motion to the pinion and from it to the sleeve, owing to the engagement of the key pin 16 with the spiral slot 17, causes the movement of the sleeve away from the plane of the gear 13 and hence the disengagement of the pinion from said gear.

The interlocking connection between the pinion and the sleeve consists as above indicated of the arms 24rengaging the slots 25, and this interlocking engagement also provides for relative longitudinal movement under the control of the spring actuated follower pins in the positioning of the pinion in the operation of startin the motor and in the communication of motionfrom the pinion to the sleeve in the operation of dis engaging the pinion from the drive gear.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and useful is 1. A motor starting mechanism having in combination with a starting motor having a shaft and a drive gear in connection with the car motor shaft, a pinion carried by the starting motor for intermeshing engagement with the drive gear, and a clutch for controlling the operation of said pinion and having a sleeve with which the pinion has an interlocking engagement, the sleeve havinga keyed connection with the motor shaft consisting of a spiral slot in the former and a revolubly mounted key pin carried by the latter, said key pin having a stem mounted in the shaft, and a key extended longitudinally into the shaft and arranged in terminal. engagement with a peripheral groove on the stem of said pin.

2. A motor starting mechanism having in combination with a starting motor having a shaft and a drive gear in connection with the car motor shaft, a pinion carried by the starting motor shaft for intermeshing engagement with the drive gear, and a clutch for controlling the operation of said pinion and having a sleeve with which the pinion has an interlocking and relatively sliding en agement, and yielding means for communicating motion from the sleeve to the pinion, the latter being provided with arms slidingly fitted in slots in the sleeve, and means being provided to limit the longitudinal movement of the pinion relative to the sleeve and consisting of a ring peripherally seated upon the sleeve in the path of projections on said arms.

In testimony whereof he affixes his signature.

PETER B. PELTO. 

